Ratatouille (This is real good )

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Ratatouille

 

Have any of you seen this Disnry movie by the way it is very cute and

this is a great way to get your little ones to eat veggies.

 

To begin, assemble the ingredients: 6 garlic cloves, 5 medium button

or brown mushrooms (I prefer brown for more flavor), 1 medium

zucchini, 5 sprigs of Italian parsley, 4 sprigs of basil, 1 medium

onion, 1 can diced tomatoes (or 2 tomatoes peeled, seeded, and

diced), vegetable stock (we'll need 3/4 cup or 180mL), 1 Tbs. tomato

paste, 1 medium green bell pepper, and 1 large eggplant (about 1

pound or 450 g). Drain the canned tomatoes.

 

 

 

Wash and scrub all the vegetables. Remove the parsley and basil

leaves from their stems. Dice the green bell pepper, eggplant, and

onion. Quarter the zucchini lengthwise then slice into 1/4-in. (1/2

cm) segments. Quarter the mushrooms. Chop the parsley and the basil.

 

 

 

Start cooking by heating olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Add the minced garlic and saute until the garlic smell intensifies,

about one minute.

 

 

 

Add the diced onion and continue to saute until they turn

translucent, about 4 more minutes.

 

 

 

Once the onions are translucent, add 1 Tbs. tomato paste. The tomato

paste will be in a clump and will take a bit of stirring and pressing

to get it to spread out and cover the onions and garlic.

 

 

 

As you work at spreading the paste out and mixing it with the onions

and garlic, the paste will cook and darken in color. Once some of the

paste starts to still to the pan and brown, it's time to add the

stock (about one minute).

 

 

 

Pour in 3/4 vegetable stock and stir until the broth begins to

simmer. Using your spatula or utensil, scrub the bottom of the pan to

release any browned bits of garlic, onion, or tomato paste.

 

 

 

Add the diced eggplant, zucchini, bell peppers, and mushrooms. Stir

to combine thoroughly and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring every

couple minutes to promote even heating.

 

 

 

The eggplant will release a lot of liquid (slowly) into the pot and

it's in this liquid that you'll want to simmer the other ingredients

in. To evenly cook all the ingredients, you'll have to stir it to

make sure the vegetables spend time touching eggplant liquid. As a

bonus, the flavors mix amazingly well during this process.

 

 

 

The eggplant will mostly be falling apart at this point, but the

zucchini, bell peppers, and mushrooms should be tender but not yet

mushy.

 

 

 

Add the diced tomatoes and stir in. After about a minute, the

tomatoes will have heated through. Turn the heat down to the lowest

setting.

 

 

 

Stir in the chopped parsley and basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

 

Although ratatouille is usually served hot, we love eating this dish

cold (usually at room temperature) with freshly toasted slices of a

baguette especially during the summer.